A mogul-skiing gold metallist at the Turin Winter Olympics. Unlike other full-time athletes, he will never have to return to a dead-end job after his moment of glory. At the age of 13, he and his older brother found an Internet-based IT company. Created to fund their dreams of standing atop the Olympic podium, it would, only two years later, become the third-largest company of its kind in the world. Rather than choosing between his business or his dream, Dale choose to move laterally with both. In 2012, they moved to the ski capital of the world, Australia, where the team was smaller, more flexible, and coached by a legend. Three short years later, he received citizenship, went head-to-head against former teammates, and became the third "Aussie" in history to win winter gold. Right next to Elvis Presley commemorative edition, you can buy stamps with Dale's face on them. Fame has its perk, as does looking outside the choices presented to you. There are always lateral options.

TrueSAN Sales VP:

The first day our new Sales VP arrived at TrueSAN in 2001, he came into the all-company meeting and made an announcement in just about this many words: "I am not here to make friends. I have been hired to build a sales team and sell product, and that is what I intend to do. Thanks."

He proceeded to deliver on his promise. The office socializers disliked him for his no-nonsense approach to communication, but everyone respected his time. He wasn't rude without reason, but he was direct and kept the people around him focused. Some didn't consider him charismatic, but no one considered him anything less than spectacularly effective.